Soybean meal with a reduced fat and soluble sugar content, and methods of making and using the same

ABSTRACT

High protein, low soluble-sugar, oil containing soybean meal suitable for use as a partial or full replacement of fish meal and other protein and energy sources in the manufacture of fish and land animal feeds and petfoods, is produced by a process in which oil is mechanically extracted from dehulled, flaked soybeans. Soluble sugars are then extracted from the defatted soybean cake using an ethanol/water mixture in a counter-current solvent extraction process. The resulting meal contains a minimum of about 8 percent by weight residual soybean oil, and it is dried, cooled and ground to produce a fine, free-flowing powder product. The process also produces a sugar syrup suitable for use as a fermentation source for the production of ethanol, and a premium soybean oil. This syrup is also suitable to be used as a taste enhancer for animal feed (typically added to the soybean meal).

This invention relates to soybean meal. In one aspect, the inventionrelates to a soybean meal with both a reduced fat and soluble sugarcontent while in another aspect, the invention relates to a method ofmaking the soybean meal. In yet another aspect, the invention relates toan integrated process of making the soybean meal in combination with oneor more economically useful by-products. In still another aspect, theinvention relates to using the soybean meal as at least a partialsubstitute for fishmeal and other protein and energy sources in thepreparation of manufactured animal feeds, particularly manufactured fishfeed.

Soybeans are a major agriculture commodity in many parts of the world,and they are the source of many useful products for both human andanimal consumption. Two of the more important products obtained fromsoybeans are soybean oil and soybean meal. While both of these productsare consumed by humans and livestock, the primary use of soybean oil isas a vegetable oil for human consumption, and the primary use of soybeanmeal is as a component for animal feed mixtures. Soybean meal is high inprotein, and it has proven to be an ideal source of amino acids used byanimals in building their own proteins.

Many methods are known for the processing of raw soybeans into oil andmeal. Illustrative of these processes are those taught in U.S. Pat. Nos.3,721,569; 4,035,194; 4,359,480; 4,496,599; 4,728,522; 4,748,038;4,785,726; 4,810,513; 4,992,294; 5,225,230; 5,773,051 and 5,866,192.Typical of these processes is the receipt of the soybeans from the fieldby any conventional transport means, for example, truck, barge, railcar, etc., in a dirty and often wet condition. The soybeans are thensubjected to an elementary separation procedure, for example, contactedwith a vibrating screen, in which the soybeans are separated fromnon-soybean material, for example, rocks, sticks, leaves, stems, dirt,weed seeds, etc., and unwanted soybean material, for example, scalpings,small or broken soybeans, loose hulls, etc.

The “clean” soybeans, in combination with the loose hulls that are notremoved during the elementary separation procedure, are transferred toan aspirator in which most of the remaining loose hulls are removed byair. The soybeans are transferred to storage, and the loose hulls arecollected as a by-product for further processing.

At this point the soybeans typically contain about 12 percent by weightwater, but the actual water content of the soybeans will vary based on ahost of different factors. If the water content of the soybeans is inexcess of about 12 percent by weight, then typically the soybeans aresubjected to drying so that the water content is reduced to below about12 percent by weight before the soybeans are place in storage. As longas the moisture content of the soybeans remains below about 12 percentby weight, the soybeans can be stored for years without materialdegradation by bacteria or mold.

The manner in which the soybeans are processed from this point forwarddepends in large part upon the end products desired. Often the soybeansare first dehulled using such conventional equipment as cracking rollsor hammer mills in combination with a conventional aspiration system,but in some processes, such as that taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,230,the hulls are not removed prior to further processing. Whether or notdehulled, the soybeans are almost always ultimately crushed or groundinto a meal using conventional equipment, for example, grooved rollers.Prior to or during the crushing or grinding process, the soybeans aretypically subjected to heat to deactivate antinutritional factors, forexample, trypsin inhibitor and lectins.

The next process step is largely dependent upon the desired oil contentof the soybean meal. If a “full fat” soybean meal is desired, then themeal is not subjected to oil (also known as fat or lipid) extraction.If, on the other hand, a “defatted” soybean meal is desired, then themeal is subjected to a fat extraction procedure, e.g., solvent ormechanical extraction. Most soybean meal available on the world markettoday is solvent-extracted soybean meal with an oil content of less than1 percent by weight. In this process, the soybean meal is contacted witha suitable solvent, e.g., hexane, to remove the oil to a content oftypically less than 0.5 percent by weight. U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,569describes a conventional procedure. Alternatively, the soybean meal isdefatted mechanically using, for example, a screw press. This “expeller”soybean meal typically contains between 4 and 8 percent by weightresidual oil. If the intended use of the meal is as a feed supplementfor ruminants, then the meal may first be heated and dried in aspecified manner, such as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,230, before oilis extracted mechanically.

After the oil has been extracted from the meal, it is typicallysubjected to centrifugation or otherwise processed to removecontaminants. This produces a clarified, crude-grade oil. The soybeanmeal from which the oil has been extracted is dried and typically groundor pelletized and then milled into a state suitable for use as a foodsupplement or as an animal feed.

Depending on its ultimate end use, the meal at this stage maybesubjected to further processing. For example, if intended for humanconsumption, it maybe subjected to further fat extraction to removeresidual phospholipids (as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,569).

The known processes for producing soybean meal in its various formsalmost always produce a soybean meal that retains much, if not most, ofthe original soluble sugar content of the raw soybean. While some ofthis soluble sugar content may be removed during various washing orextraction steps, typically the soluble sugar content of the finishedsoybean meal is a significant fraction, for example, greater than 90weight percent, of the soluble sugar content of the raw soybean. Whilethe presence of this soluble sugar is typically of little, if any,consequence to adult herbivores and omnivores, it can prove detrimentalto carnivores and young animals in general. One example of this is thenegative effect of non-metabolized soluble sugars on the growth andhealth of farm-raised fish, for example, salmon or trout. Furthermore,the low energy density of fully defatted soybean meal (due to a highcontent of non-metabolized soluble sugars and a low level of fat) limitsits inclusion levels in diets for intensive aquaculture. (Cremer, M.,1999. Soy in Aquaculture Diets. In: Drackley, J. K. Ed. Opportunitiesfor Soy Products in Animal Nutrition. Global Soy Forum 1999, Chicago,Ill., Aug. 6-7, 1999).

The principal diet of farm-raised fish is manufactured fish feed, andthis feed is a blend of many components selected for their nutritionalvalue. One primary component, of course, is protein, and one primarysource of the protein for this component is fishmeal, that is, anutritive mealy substance produced from fish or fish parts. For allpractical purposes, fishmeal is essentially free of soluble sugars.However, as excellent a source of protein as fish meal is, it isexpensive to use as a protein source in manufactured fish feed. Theproduction of fishmeal is a multi-step process including catching thefish, processing it, and then testing the meal for nutrient value.Moreover, only limited species of fish are available as a source forfishmeal, and the populations of these species is relatively constant.With demand for fishmeal increasing and government constraintsprotecting against over-fishing, availability of fishmeal is decreasingand its price is increasing. This rising expense is a driving forcebehind the constant search for alternative protein sources and due toits high protein content, soybean meal has the potential to be a full orpartial replacement for fishmeal in manufactured fish feed.

Most commercially available solvent-extracted soybean meal, however, haseither too little oil content (an excellent source of energy) and/or toomuch soluble sugars (mostly oligosaccharides). These sugars not onlyhave little, if any, nutritional value to the fish, but if present insufficient concentration, actually interfere with the fish's metabolismto the point that the health and growth of the fish can be adverselyimpacted. Moreover, since the sugars inherently present in soybeans arewater-soluble and since the fish feed is presented to the fish in theirnatural environment, i.e., water, some of these sugars will naturallydissolve into the water before consumed by the fish and thus contributepollution to the water. The presence of soluble sugars in the soybeanmeal also can have adverse effects if the soybean meal is used as acomponent in feeds for other animals, e.g., shrimp, piglets, calves andthe like.

Accordingly, a continuing interest exists in a soybean meal thatcontains a reduced but significant amount of oil and little, if any,soluble sugars. In addition, a continuing interest exists in producingsuch a meal in an economically efficient manner, and that has utility ina number of different feed applications.

According to this invention, a high protein, low soluble-sugar,oil-containing soybean meal is produced by a process in which thesoybeans are subjected to cracking, dehulling, conditioning and flakingbefore defatting and sugar extraction. As in traditional processes, rawsoybeans are received from the field, cleaned and then either sent tostorage or forwarded for further processing. Subsequent processingincludes drying, cracking and dehulling the soybeans, and then thedehulled soybeans are heated and flaked. The flakes, typicallycomprising less than 1 percent by weight (wt percent) residual hulls,are heated prior to mechanical oil removal. The increase temperatureenhances the oil removal, and the oil content of the resulting “cake” isreduced to between about 6 and about 12 wt percent based upon the weightof the cake. After decantation and degumming, the extracted oil ismarketable as crude, degummed soybean oil.

The cake is further processed for removal of soluble sugars (also knownas oligosaccharides or carbohydrates). First, the cake is soaked withfull miscella in an alcohol/water solution comprising from about 50 toabout 80 volume percent (v percent) alcohol until the cake is swollen.The cake has a very high absorption capacity and as such, it swellseasily. The swollen cake is then conveyed gently to prevent collapse ofthe swollen cake through a counter-current extractor in which its iscontacted with increasingly pure solvent, for example, ethanol/watersolution.

The extraction of the cake produces two product streams. One stream is afull miscella stream which is an alcohol/sugar/water mixture (it mayalso contain a minor amount of soybean oil and protein). This stream issubjected to evaporation and/or distillation, which recovers most of thealcohol and produces a sugar solution (that is, a syrup) which hascharacteristics similar to the syrup produced by sugarcane processingplants. This syrup can be fermented to produce an alcohol that can beused in the extraction process.

The other stream is the cake which is still wet with the alcoholicsolution. This stream is sent to a mechanical dewetting device, forexample, an adjustable counter-pressure press, and then to a unit toremove residual alcohol to a content of less than about 1500 parts permillion (ppm) based upon the weight of the final cake (that is, thedewetted, desolventized cake). The final cake is then dried, cooled andground to the desired particle size.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flow diagram of one embodiment of the process ofthis invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a material balance for the dehulling operationof this invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of a material balance for the oil extractionoperation of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of a material balance for the soluble sugarextraction operation of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic of a material balance for the flash evaporationoperation of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic of a material balance for the conventionalevaporation operation of this invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 and as noted earlier, the soybeans processed by thisinvention come from either the field or storage, or both. If from thefield, the raw soybeans are cleaned and sorted to separate the beansfrom foreign matter and soybeans of unwanted quality, and then dried. Iffrom storage, then presumably the raw soybeans have already underwentcleaning, sorting and drying. Typical of the raw soybeans used in thisinvention are U.S. Yellow #2 and #4 soybeans.

Whatever the source and quality of the raw soybeans, these beans aredehulled using any conventional technology. For example, the rawsoybeans are exposed to circulating hot air (for example, about 100 C)for approximately 2-5 minutes to remove any residual moisture from thesoybeans and to cause their cotyledons to shrivel. Raw soybeanstypically have a moisture content of 12 wt percent or more, and this istypically reduced to 10 wt percent or less prior to dehulling. In turn,this facilitates the removal of the hulls. Any conventional equipmentand procedures can be used to dehull the dried soybeans, for example, aroller mill with grooved rolls. The beans are typically broken intoabout eight pieces. The hulls and soybeans are subsequently passedthrough an aspirator in which the hulls are removed and the beansforwarded for conditioning prior to oil extraction. The hulls arerecovered as a by-product of the process and can be subsequentlyprocessed (for example, ground or pelletized) into an animal feedsupplement. After the dehulling operation, preferably the loose hullcontent of the dehulled soybeans is less than about 1 wt percent, andthe amount of soybeans retaining their hulls is also less than about 1wt percent.

The dehulled soybeans are then conditioned for oil extraction bymechanical means. Typically, the dehulled beans are conditioned in avertical stacked-tray conditioner in which steam is usually the heatingmedia (located beneath the bottom of the trays). Traditionalconditioners are cylindrical in shape, and contain between 6-8 trays.This equipment will heat the soybean pieces (“meats”) from an initialtemperature of ambient (for example, about 25 C) to a final temperatureof about 60 C over a period of about 20 minutes. At this temperature,the pieces exhibit at least a limited amount of plasticity.

Once heated, the meats are flaked by any conventional equipment,typically a roller press with smooth rolls operated at a pressure ofabout 60 kilograms per square centimeter (kg/cm²). The typical thicknessof the flakes is between about 0.40 to about 0.50 millimeters (mm).

The flakes are then heated in conventional equipment from a temperatureof about 60 C (the temperature of the flakes from the flaking mill) to atemperature from about 90 to about 100 C. This heating is typicallyperformed in a vertical stacked-tray conditioner (similar to that usedfor conditioning step described above) over a period of about 30minutes.

The heated flakes are then passed to an oil-extraction apparatus, forexample, screw press (also known as an expeller), in which the flakesare defatted. Mechanical extraction of oil from the flakes is onecharacterizing feature of this invention. Hexane or other solventextraction of the fat component of the flakes is not used. The oilcontent of the flakes is reduced from greater than about 12 wt percent,typically between about 15-20 wt percent, to less than about 12 wtpercent, preferably between about 6-10 wt percent. The amount of oilextracted from the heated flakes is controlled, at least in part, bycontrolling the amount of pressure applied to the flakes. The morepressure applied to the flakes, the more oil is extracted from theflakes. The maximum pressing pressure is typically does not exceed about120 tons per square centimeters (t/cm²).

The extracted oil is recovered and further processed in any conventionalmanner to render it suitable for sale as crude soybean oil. Furtherprocessing typically includes degumming and clarification, the latter aprocedure, in which solids are removed typically by centrifugation.Because the oil is prepared without the use of solvents, it typicallycommands a price premium.

The defatted flakes, that is, flakes now containing between about 6-12wt percent oil, are expelled from the screw press as a cream-coloredcake. Typically, this cake is deposited onto a conveyer belt andtransferred to a counter-current solvent extraction apparatus forremoval of soluble sugars. The cake is allowed to cool to about 75 C,and then it is transferred carefully to the solvent extractor to avoidcollapse of the cake. If the cake is allowed to collapse, the very fineparticle components of the cake, that is, the “flour”, will disengagefrom the cake and entrain into the solvent from which it can eventuallyprecipitate onto equipment filters and surfaces (which in turn canresult in equipment plugging).

The cake is transferred to the counter-current extractor (vertical orhorizontal configuration) in which it is placed into baskets, or onto abelt, or other means within the extractor for transporting it from theinlet of the extractor to the outlet of the extractor. Both the transferof the cake into the baskets or onto the belt, and the movement of thebasket or belt inside the extractor is slow and careful so as to avoidcollapse of the cake.

The first stage of the extraction process is the swelling stage, andthis can occur either inside or outside of the extractor. Typically,this swelling stage is performed is a screw conveyor designed to providemaximum contact between the full miscella and the cake, and this contacttypically results in the cake at least doubling in size (volume). Thisincrease in cake volume reduces or eliminates plugging problems that mayresult once the cake is transferred to the extractor (or if alreadywithin the extractor, once it moves from the swelling stage to the nextstage in the extraction process).

Once inside the extractor, the cake is again contacted with fullmiscella, (that is, a mixture comprising alcohol/water/soluble sugars).As the cake moves to the outlet or discharge end of the extractor, it iscontinuously contacted with increasingly clean solvent, that is, solventfree of extracted material from the cake, and this clean solvent willextract the soluble sugars from the cake. By the time the cake hasprogressed to the outlet of the extractor, the solvent has changed fromfull miscella to essentially pure solvent, (that is, a water/alcoholmixture that is about 60 percent volume alcohol). Any alcohol or mixtureof alcohols that will extract the soluble sugars from the defatted cakecan be used in the practice of this invention although for reasons ofefficiency, economy and product safety, ethanol is the preferredalcohol. The solvent extraction process will remove the soluble sugarsto less than about 1.5 wt percent of the defatted cake. The process mayalso remove a small but negligible amount of oil from the defatted cake,and this oil will become part of the miscella.

The extraction process generates two product streams. The first, ofcourse, is the defatted, desugared cake. This cake is transferred to astandard desolventizer system (for example, Schneken screws followed bya DT—Desolventizer Toaster) or a flash evaporator to remove alcohol to acontent of less than 1500 ppm. A flash evaporator is typically used ifthe meal is intended for human consumption. The cream-colored cake isground and then packaged and/or stored for sale. If stored properly, itwill hold its nutritional value for six or more months. Packaging canvary to demand ranging from relatively small bags of 25 kg or less, tobulk bags of 800 kg or more, to bulk containers.

The other stream is a by-product stream of full miscella which isrecovered from the bottom of the extractor. This stream is typicallysent to a conventional evaporator system, a system normally comprising aset of two vertical counter-current evaporators, that is operated withone or both of a defoaming device and antifoaming agent. An alcohol richmixture ranging from 55-70 percent volume is recovered from theevaporator system and returned to the extraction process. The molasses(mixture of sugar, water and small amounts of alcohol) that is recoveredfrom the evaporator system is then transferred to a distillation columnor to a thin film evaporator (the choice dependent upon the desiredproduct). If the desired product is a concentrated sugar syrup, e.g., asyrup containing 80 wt percent or more sugar, then the molasses istypically transferred to a thin-film evaporator for final removal ofwater and trace amounts of alcohol, and the product is used as a tasteenhancer for animal feeds.

If the desired product is a syrup with a sugar concentration of lessthan 80 wt percent, then the molasses is typically transferred to aconventional alcohol distillation column. The bottom stream from thedistillation column is typically about 60-65 wt percent of the feedstream to the column, and it typically contains between 1 and 3 wtpercent alcohol. This bottom stream is preferably sent to a fermentationplant for conversion to ethanol. This sugar syrup tends to provide abetter yield of ethanol than does traditional sugarcane syrup. Theethanol can be returned to the solvent extraction process, and it lowerthe overall expense, or input, or operational cost of the process. Thebroth that is recovered from the fermentation tanks is a usefulfertilizer.

Before the defatted, desugared cake is sent to the flash evaporator, itis pressed to reduce the amount of solvent (water/alcohol). After theextractor and before pressing, the defatted, desugared cake typicallycontains about 75 wt percent solvent/water. After pressing, the caketypically contains about 50 wt percent solvent/water.

The final soybean meal product has a fine, free-flowing, dry,cream-colored powder appearance. It comprises protein, moisture, fat,crude fiber, carbohydrates and various amino acids, for example, lysine,methionine, cystine, threonine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine,tyrosine, tryptophan, histidine and valine.

Because of its relatively high oil content and relatively lowsoluble-sugar content, the soybean meal produced by the process of thisinvention is particularly well adapted for use in manufactured fishfeeds, particularly as a substitute for some or all of the fish mealcomponent of the manufactured fish feed. The soybean meal of thisinvention also is useful as a protein and energy source in othermanufactured animal feeds, particularly for carnivores and omnivores,for example, shrimp, piglets, calves and pet animals (for example, catsand dogs).

The invention is more fully described by the following examples. Unlessindicated to the contrary, all parts and percentages are by weight.

EXAMPLE 1 Soybean Meal Production

U.S. Yellow No. 4 soybeans are used in this example. After sorting andcleaning, the beans are dried from an initial water content of about 12wt percent to a final water content of about 9.5 wt percent. The beansare then heated to a temperature of about 60 C and fed to a roller millequipped with grooved rolls in which the beans are dehulled and brokeninto pieces. The hulls and pieces are fed to an aspirator in which thehulls are separated from the bean pieces (the “meats”). Afteraspiration, the soybean meats contain less than 1 wt percent loose hullsand less than 1 wt percent of the meats retain hull fragments. FIG. 2reports a typical material balance for the dehulling operation.

The soybean pieces are heated on trays within a conditioner to raisetheir temperature from 25 C to about 60 C over a period of about 20minutes. The heated meats are then fed to a roller mill with smoothrolls to produce flakes with a thickness between about 0.40 and about0.50 mm. The flakes are then heated in a vertical stacked-trayconditioner to raise their temperature from about 60 C to between about90 and 100 C over a period of about 30 minutes. The heated flakes arethen fed to a screw press in which soybean oil is mechanicallyextracted. The oil content is reduced from about 21 wt percent to about8.5 wt percent. FIG. 3 reports a typical material balance of thisdefatting operation.

The recovered oil is for about 30 minutes, decanted from the solids, andthen degummed at a temperature of about 70 C. This last operationinvolves the addition of a small amount of water (about 2 wt percent)which is subsequently removed under vacuum (60 mmHg). The resulting oilis clear and of a light color, and constitutes a premium crude-gradesoybean oil.

The cake recovered from the screw press is collected on a conveyor beltand allowed to cool to about 75 C. The belt transfers the cake to acounter-current solvent extractor equipped with an Archimedes-screwwhich acts as a “sweller”. Inside this screw the cake is allowed to soakin full miscella for about 30-40 minutes at a temperature of about 70 Cin which the cake volume swells by about 150 percent. The cake is thengently transferred from the “swelling” screw to the inlet of thecounter-current extractor.

The extractor is operated in a manner that the total resident time ofthe cake within the extractor is about 1 hour. The cake is subjected tonine separate stages of extraction in which 2 to 2.5 kg of solvent isused for each kilogram of cake. The maximum height of the bed is about1.2 m, and the solvent is allowed to percolate through the bed at a rateof about 10,000 liters per hour per square meter (1/hr/m²). At the endof the extraction process, the cake is allowed to drain for about 12minutes. FIG. 4 reports a typical material balance for this extractoroperation.

The cake recovered from the extractor is pressed to recover solvent. Thecake is compressed to about one-third of its original size, and thesolvent content of the cake is reduced from about 75 wt percent to about50 wt percent. The cake is then transferred to a conventionaldesolventizer or to a flash desolventizer in which the solvent, that is,water/ethanol, is removed to a level of less than about 1000 ppmethanol. The desolventizer is operated at a maximum temperature of about100 C. FIG. 5 reports a typical material balance for the desolventizer.Once recovered from the desolventizer, the soybean meal is dried,ground, packaged and/or stored.

The miscella recovered from the extractor is transferred to aconventional evaporator system in which it is mixed with an antifoamingagent and about 60 wt percent of the ethanol is recovered and recycledto the extractor. The remaining miscella is transferred to adistillation column. This remaining miscella is now a syrup at atemperature of about 70 C. It has a solid concentration of about 11 wtpercent upon entering the distillation column, and about 30-35 wtpercent upon exiting the distillation column. The maximum temperature ofthe syrup within the column is about 85 C and after the syrup leaves thecolumn, its temperature is reduced to about 40 C. The maximum ethanolconcentration of the syrup is about 0.5 wt percent. The recovered sugarsyrup (or molasses) comprises about 50 wt percent sucrose, about 25 wtpercent stachyose and about 25 wt percent raffinose. The total sugarcontent of the molasses is about 16 wt percent. FIG. 6 reports a typicalmaterial balance for the operation of the conventional evaporator.

The sugar syrup can be fermented to produce ethanol. In appropriatelysized vats, between about 100,000 and about 300,000 liters of sugarsyrup is mixed with yeast at an ambient temperature and a pH betweenabout 3.5 and about 4.0 for about 8 hours. Between about 1 and 2 kg pervat of antifoaming agent is added. The fermentation process producesabout 0.562 kg of ethanol per kilogram of sugar.

Soybean meal produced by this process typically has the followingcharacteristics:

PHYSICO-CHEMICAL Appearance Fine, free flowing dry powder Protein (as N× 6.25) min 58.0% Moisture max 8.0% Fat min 6.0% Ash max 5.5% CrudeFiber max 5.0% Carbohydrates (NFE) 17.0 to 21.0% Oligosaccharides max3.0% Trypsin inhibitor max 5000 TIU/g of product Lovibond Color maxstandard L min 65.0 a max 4.0 b max 20.0 min standard L max 70.0 a min2.0 b min 17.0 MICROBIOLOGICAL Total Plate Counte max 20,000 cfu/gSalmonella absence in 25 g AMINOGRAM Amino Acid g/100 g of protein g/100g of product Lysine 6.2 3.8 Methionine 0.9 0.5 Cystine n.a*. n.a*.Threonine 3.2 1.9 Leucine 8.7 5.3 Isoleucine 4.5 2.7 Phenylalanine 5.13.1 Tyrosine 3.5 2.1 Tryptophan 2.0 1.2 Histidine 2.5 1.5 Valine 4.9 3.0*n.a. = not analyzed

EXAMPLE 2 Use of Soybean Meal as a Replacement for Fish Meal in FishFeed Materials and Methods

Nine extruded diets were fed to triplicate groups of 88-g Atlanticsalmon in an 84 days experiment in 9 C freshwater. LT-fish meal waspartially replaced by dehulled soybean meal (manufactured by Denofa, andproviding 30 percent crude protein in the diet) or AkvaSoy (a soybeanmeal made by the process of this invention, and providing 40 percentcrude protein in the diet), and the soya diets were supplemented withemulsifiers (0.5 percent phospholipids; 0.5 percent bile; 0.5 percentphospholipids+0.5 percent bile). The diet formulations and proximatecompositions are shown in Tables 1 and 2.

TABLE 1 Diet formulations Diet Ingredient (g/kg) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 LTFish Meal 609 440 440 440 440 360 360 360 360 Denofa Dehulled 0 293 293293 293 0 0 0 0 SBM Akvasoy SBM 0 0 0 0 0 286 286 286 286 Fish Oil 160179 179 179 179 166 166 166 166 Wheat 179.3 27.3 22.3 22.3 17.3 122.3117.3 117.3 112.3 Ca(H₂PO₄)₂ 10 17 17 17 17 22 22 22 22 DL-Methionine 02 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Phospholipids 0 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 Bile salt 0 0 0 5 5 0 05 5 Constant 41.7 41.7 41.7 41.7 41.7 41.7 41.7 41.7 41.7 ingredients¹¹Constant ingredients (g/kg diet): Vitamin and micromineral premix,10.0; Modified potato starch, 30.0; Pigment (8 Astaxanthin), 0.3;Vitamin C (15 percent), 0.4; Y₂O₃, 1.0.

TABLE 2 Proximate composition of the diets Nutrient Diet composition 0 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 Dry matter, g 969 942 932 933 931 971 970 961 959 Protein,g 474 456 455 459 456 460 458 457 457 Fat, g 222 216 211 221 218 227 240236 240 Starch, g 126 60 60 56 54 104 110 111 108 Ash, g 92 90 86 88 8781 81 80 82 Astaxanthin, mg 25.7 25.4 22.4 28.1 24.6 26.6 25.9 27.6 25.6Gross energy, 22.5 21.9 21.8 21.9 21.7 22.9 22.8 22.6 22.8 MJ/kg

Results and Discussion

The experimental results are summarized in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Summary of experiment results (0-84 days). Diet Result 0 1 2 3 45 6 7 8 Feed intake FI (g) 85.5 101.1 101.7 100.2 103.0 88.7 89.7 88.493.2 Weight gain WG (g) 114.4 121.0 118.9 121.7 115.6 111.0 112.1 108.1111.5 Feed conversion (FI/WG) 0.75 0.84 0.86 0.82 0.89 0.80 0.80 0.820.84 Apparent energy 90.8 91.0 91.1 92.9 92.7 91.2 90.5 90.0 90.8Digestibility (%) Apparent energy 88.5 85.0 84.6 88.4 87.7 85.3 84.284.5 84.0 Digestibility (%) Protein retention (%) 53.9 49.8 50.0 50.847.2 53.9 51.2 50.4 48.9 Pigment in flesh (mg/kg) 0.9 1.0 0.8 1.1 1.21.3 1.0 1.4 1.3

All fish groups grew well. Specific growth rates were approx. 1 percentd⁻¹ and the feed:gain ratios (FGR) ranged between 0.7 and 0.9. Theresmall differences in digestibility of protein, while the digestibilityof energy was lower in the diets with soya. The salmon fed Denofaperformed better than the ones fed Akvasoy. The feed intake anddigestibility of protein and energy were highest for the fish fedDenofa. FGR was lower for the salmon fed Akvasoy. The pigmentation wasbetter for the fish fed Akvasoy than the ones fed Denofa.

No differences in the growth were seen with respect to inclusion ofphospholipids. FGR was improved slightly by the inclusion ofphospolipids into the diets, while energy digestibility and proteinretention were slightly reduced. Pigmentation was not affected byphospholipid supplementation.

For bile supplementation, there was a slight reduction in growth and FGRduring the first month of feeding, while this was not consistent duringthe rest of the study. Bile supplementation resulted in increaseddigestibility of both protein and energy for the diets with extractedsoy, but not for the ones with Akvasoy. Inclusion of bile in the dietsgave a reduction in protein retention. Carcass percent was reduced andpercent of intestines increased by bile supplementation, but the contentof fat in the intestines was reduced. There was a tendency of increasedpigmentation and an increased in variation flesh colour within groups offish when supplementing the soy diets with bile.

EXAMPLE 3 Use of Soybean Meal as a Partial Replacement of Dried SkimMilk in Feeds for Earlier Weaned Pigs Materials and Methods

A nursery trial involving 792 pigs weaned at 16 to 20 days was conductedto evaluate the effects of feeding Akvasoy (a soybean meal made by theprocess of this invention) or Soy Protein Concentrate (SPC) as partialreplacement of dried skim milk blend on performance in a four phasenursery program. Dietary treatments were:

Phase 1 Treatment 1- Control 1 Treatment 2- Replacing 25% lysine fromdried skim milk blend with lysine from Akvasoy. Treatment 3- Replacing50% lysine from dried skim milk blend with lysine from Akvasoy.Treatment 4- Control 1 Treatment 5- Replacing 25% lysine from dried skimmilk blend with lysine from Profine-E (SPC). Treatment 6- Replacing 50%lysine from dried skim milk blend with lysine from Profine-E (SPC).Phase 2 Treatment 1- Control 2 Treatment 2- Control 3 Treatment 3-Control 4

The trial design was a completed randomized block. Pigs were visuallysorted by size into three replicates by weight within sex (22 barrows or22 gilts/pen). Pen weights were determined within replicate. Pens wererandomly assigned to one of the six experimental diets (3 pens of giltsand 3 pens of barrows/treatment). Upon consumption of phase one feed,pens were fed a common diet during phase 2, 3 and 4. Phase 2, 3 and 4were analyzed by phase one treatment designation. Average initialweights by replicate are shown in Table 4.

Phase one diets were formulated to contain 1.60 percent total lysinewith 450 pounds per ton (lb/ton) spray dried whey and 25.1 totallactose. The experimental diet for phase 2 was formulated to contain 300lb/ton spray dried whey (10.2 percent total lactose) at a 1.45 percenttotal lysine, 3.0 percent fish meal and 1.25 percent blood meal. Phases1 and 2 contained 2400 ppm added zinc (as zinc oxide). The phase 3 dietcontained 1.35 percent total lysine with 2.5 percent fish meal and 4.25percent total lactose. The phase 4 diet contained 1.23 percent totallysine with 1.25 percent blood meal.

The amount of each phase diet fed per pig was based on initial weight.Feed allotments by replicate and phase are listed below. Phase 4 feedwas fed upon consumption of allocated phase 3 feed unit completion ofthe trial.

Replicate Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 1 1.9 lb/pig 5.5 lb/pig 12.0 lb/pig 22.7 lb/pig 6.5 lb/pig 14.0 lb/pig 3 3.2 lb/pig 7.5 lb/pig 16.0 lb/pig

Peg pig weights, feed consumption and feed:gain ratio were calculated atthe end of each dietary phase. Dietary phases were switched only when 3of the 6 pens in the replicate had consumed their allotted feedpoundage. When needed, pigs were injected with a combination of vitaminB₁₂, dexamethasone, and penicillin as prescribed by the unitveterinarian.

Data were analyzed as a randomized complete block using the GLMprocedure of SAS. The statistical model included treatment, sex, weightblock and first order interactions. Interactions with probabilityof >0.25 were eliminated from the model and pooled in the error term.Initial weight was used as a covariant in all performance analyses. Maineffect means were separated by Student's-T test.

Results and Discussion

Phase 1 (11.6 to 13.9 lb)

Replacing dried skim with increasing levels of Profine-E (on a lysinebasis) resulted in a quadratic response on daily weight gain (P<0.05)and feed conversion rate (P<0.07). Average daily gain was increased byreplacement at 25 percent Profine-E but decreased with 0 and 50 percent.Feed gain followed a similar pattern. There were no significantdifferences (P<0.10) in performance with increasing levels of Akvasoy.

Phase 2 (13.9 to 20.4 lb)

Replacing dried skim milk with increasing levels of Profine-E on alysine basis in phase 1 resulted in a linear improvement (P<0.08) infeed:gain ratio in the phase 2 diet. Pigs converted feed moreefficiently with increasing levels of Profine-E in the previous phasediet. Average daily gain and feed intake were not significantly affected(P<0.10) in performance with previous Akvasoy treatment.

Phase 3 (20.4 to 32.3 lb)

Replacing dried skim with increasing levels of Profine-E in phase 1resulted in a linear response in daily weight gain (P<0.02) and feedintake (P<0.04) in phase 3). Increasing levels of Profine-E in phase 1resulted in a linear response in gain (P<0.07) difference inperformance. Level of Akvasoy in Phase 1 had no effect on phase 3performance.

Phase 4 (32.3 to 53.5 lb)

Pigs prevously fed Akvasoy consumed 4.8 percent more feed (P<0.02) thanthose previously fed Profine-E during the 17 day phase 4 feeding period.Replacing dried skim milk with increasing levels of Profine-E in phase 1resulted in a linear decrease (P<0.04) in average daily feed intake inphase 4. However, phase 1 replacement of dried skim milk with increasinglevels of Akvasoy on a lysine basis resulted with a quadratic response(P<0.05) in feed consumption. Feed intake during phase 4 was increasedby replacement at 25 percent Akvasoy in phase 4, but decreased with 0and 50 percent.

Overall (11.6 to 53.5 lb)

Feeding dried skim mil, Akvasoy or Profine-E during phase 1 had nosignificant effect (P<0.10) on overall performance. However, pigs fedAkvasoy were 1.2 lb heavier at the end of the 46 day feeding period thanthose fed Profine-E (P<0.10). The interactive means show that replacingdried skim milk with increasing levels of Akvasoy in phase 1 resulted ina quadratic response in ADG (P<0.08) and ADFI (P<0.08) in gilts.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail throughthe proceeding descriptions and examples, this detail is for the purposeof illustration and is not to be construed as a limitation on the scopeand spirit of the invention as described in the appended claims.

1. A process for preparing a high protein, low soluble-sugar,oil-containing soybean meal from raw soybeans, the process comprising:A. cleaning, sorting and drying the raw soybeans; B. dehulling thecleaned, sorted and dried soybeans; C. conditioning and flaking thedehulled soybeans; D. mechanically reducing the oil content of theflaked soybeans to produce a soybean oil product and a defatted cake;and E. extracting with ethanol soluble-sugars from the defatted cake toproduce (i) a syrup product, and (ii) a cake product, the cakecontaining less than about 5 percent by weight soluble sugars; and F.fermenting the syrup product to ethanol, and using the ethanol in Step Eto extract soluble-sugars flow the defatted cake.
 2. The process ofclaim 1 in which the flaked soybeans are defatted by pressing.
 3. Theprocess of claim 2 in which the flaked soybeans are pressed at atemperature between about 80 and 110 C.
 4. The process of claim 3 inwhich the defatted cake is cooled to a temperature of less than about100 C before extraction of the soluble sugars.
 5. The process of claim 4in which the cooled, defatted cake is first contacted with miscella. 6.The process of claim 4 in which the cake containing less than about 5 wtpercent soluble sugars is pressed to remove ethanol, exposed to flashevaporation of the remaining ethanol, dried, cooled and ground to acream-colored powder.